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Lien · 08-17-2013, 02:10 PM

Hi,

I felt exactly the same, when I was diagnosed 9,5 years ago at age 44. My sons were 3 & 8, my stepsons 11 and 15. It was all so scary and I was sure I was not going to see them grow up. Well, here I am, and I/m doing fine.

I never had Herceptin, as it wasn't available at the time for early stage BC. I would probably get it now. I didn't have chemo either. I live in the Netherlands, Europe, and we tend to be less aggressive in our approach. I did do hormone therapy and some complementary therapies.

Your biopsy path report and PET scan sound very encouraging. No lymphovascular invasion and probably no affected nodes. PET scan often pick up things that are not cancer related. A small infection could cause a node to light up. So unless they actually find cancer cells in one node (which isn't too bad either) it sounds as if you will be there for your boys' weddings.

There are a couple of things you can do to reduce your risk of recurrence and I'm sure your docs will tell you about them. There's also tons of info on this site, so go have a look. And if you are not up to that right now, just ask. We'll help.

Two things that you can do yourself are: get enough vitamin D and get some exercise. Those two factors seem to reduce our risk of recurrence. So go out and walk in the sun, play with your kids as soon as you are up to it after your surgery. But don't overdo it. You have lots of time to get back into shape.

And no, those 4 weeks are not a problem. Many of us have had to wait longer. And I had to wait 10 weeks before I could start radiation therapy after surgery because of an abcess that wouldn't heal. I am very allergic to lots of things, and probably reacted to the sutures.

I am still around and cancer free. Now just take it one step at the time, get lots of help from anyone who is willing to pitch in, take your time to heal and in the mean time explain a bit of what is going on to your kids. They will sense something is wrong, and if you don't talk to them about it, they will come up with explanations that are a lot more scary than what's going on in reality.

Remember, we are all here to help you get through this.

Hugs

Jacqueline

08-17-2013, 02:10 PM	#7
Lien Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Haarlem, the Netherlands Posts: 835	Re: Recently diagnosed @ 33 and scared Hi, I felt exactly the same, when I was diagnosed 9,5 years ago at age 44. My sons were 3 & 8, my stepsons 11 and 15. It was all so scary and I was sure I was not going to see them grow up. Well, here I am, and I/m doing fine. I never had Herceptin, as it wasn't available at the time for early stage BC. I would probably get it now. I didn't have chemo either. I live in the Netherlands, Europe, and we tend to be less aggressive in our approach. I did do hormone therapy and some complementary therapies. Your biopsy path report and PET scan sound very encouraging. No lymphovascular invasion and probably no affected nodes. PET scan often pick up things that are not cancer related. A small infection could cause a node to light up. So unless they actually find cancer cells in one node (which isn't too bad either) it sounds as if you will be there for your boys' weddings. There are a couple of things you can do to reduce your risk of recurrence and I'm sure your docs will tell you about them. There's also tons of info on this site, so go have a look. And if you are not up to that right now, just ask. We'll help. Two things that you can do yourself are: get enough vitamin D and get some exercise. Those two factors seem to reduce our risk of recurrence. So go out and walk in the sun, play with your kids as soon as you are up to it after your surgery. But don't overdo it. You have lots of time to get back into shape. And no, those 4 weeks are not a problem. Many of us have had to wait longer. And I had to wait 10 weeks before I could start radiation therapy after surgery because of an abcess that wouldn't heal. I am very allergic to lots of things, and probably reacted to the sutures. I am still around and cancer free. Now just take it one step at the time, get lots of help from anyone who is willing to pitch in, take your time to heal and in the mean time explain a bit of what is going on to your kids. They will sense something is wrong, and if you don't talk to them about it, they will come up with explanations that are a lot more scary than what's going on in reality. Remember, we are all here to help you get through this. Hugs Jacqueline __________________ Diagnosed age 44, January 2004, 0.7 cm IDC & DCIS. Stage 1, grade 3, ER/PR pos. HER2 pos. clear margins, no nodes. SNB. 35 rads. On Zoladex and Armidex since Dec. 2004. Stopped Zoladex/Arimidex sept 2009 Still taking mistletoe shots (CAM therapy) Doing fine.